Syria's post-war economic recovery will require 'substantial' international support, IMF says

The International Monetary Fund had said it visited Syria for the first time since 2009 as the country scrambles to rebuild after over a decade of conflict. “Syria faces enormous challenges following years of conflict that caused immense human suffering and reduced its economy to a fraction of its former size,” the IMF said on Tuesday. Syria cannot afford hundreds of billions of dollars of damages and losses from the conflict that first started as protests in 2011 against Bashar Assad’s totalitarian government. During its five-day visit this month, the IMF met with officials from Syria's public and private sectors, notably the finance minister and central bank governor, and said Syria was willing to reform its economy and make its outdated state institutions viable again.